Liv. 3.59.1Ingēns metus incesserat patrēs, vultūsque iam iīdem tribūnōrum erant, quī Decemvirōrum fuerant, cum M. Duillius tribūnus plēbis inhibitō salūbriter modo nimiae potestātī "et lībertātis" inquit "nostrae et poenārum ex inimīcīs satis est;Great fear had come upon the senators, and the faces of the tribunes were now the same as those of the decemvirs had been, when Marcus Duillius, tribune of the plebs, wholesomely checking their excessive power, said: 'Enough has been done both for our liberty and for punishing our enemies; Liv. 3.59.2itaque hōc annō nec diem dīcī cuiquam nec in vincla dūcī quemquam sum passūrus.and so this year I shall not allow anyone to be summoned to trial or anyone to be led off to prison. Liv. 3.59.2Nam neque vetera peccāta repetī iam oblitterāta placet, cum nova expiāta sint Decemvirōrum suppliciīs, et nihil admissum īrī, quod vim tribūniciam dēsīderet, spondet perpetua cōnsulum ambōrum in lībertāte vestrā tuendā cūra."For I do not wish old offences, now forgotten, to be raked up, when the new ones have been atoned for by the punishment of the decemvirs; and that nothing will be committed which calls for the tribunes' force is guaranteed by the unceasing care of both consuls in protecting your liberty.' Liv. 3.59.4Ea prīmum moderātiō tribūnī metum patribus dēmpsit eademque auxit cōnsulum invidiam, quod adeō tōtī plēbis fuissent, ut patrum salūtis lībertātisque prior plēbēiō magistrātuī quam patriciō cūra fuisset, et ante inimīcōs satietās poenārum suārum cēpisset, quam obviam itūrōs licentiae eōrum cōnsulēs appārēret.This moderation of the tribune first removed the senators' fear, and it also increased the odium against the consuls, because they had been so wholly devoted to the plebs that a plebeian magistrate had shown concern for the safety and liberty of the senators before a patrician one, and their enemies had had their fill of punishing them before it was apparent that the consuls would stand in the way of their licence.
Liv. 3.59.5Multīque erant, quī mollius cōnsultum dīcerent, quod lēgum ab iīs lātārum patrēs auctōrēs fuissent, neque erat dubium, quīn turbātō reī pūblicae statū temporī succubuissent.And there were many who said that the senators had acted too weakly in ratifying the laws the consuls had proposed, and there was no doubt that, in the troubled state of the commonwealth, they had yielded to the times.